Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities

full name / name of organization:

Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.)

contact email:

zorafestival1@yahoo.com

Scholars and other interested parties are invited to submit papers for the 2013 Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (January 26th-February 3rd). The Festival theme is “The Rise of Community: The Town of Eatonville Models 125 Years of Self-Governance.”

The historic Eatonville community observes its 125th anniversary on August 18, 2012. Known as the oldest incorporated African American municipality in the United States, Eatonville is emblematic of the “American race colony” movement, the term given to independent planned communities intentionally comprised of persons of African descent and which first appeared on the American scene during the 19th century. Zora Neale Hurston’s Eatonville has survived in the face of various adversities.

The committee welcomes papers that explore community formation, survival, and development in diverse communities within the United States, the African diaspora, and beyond.

In a tradition of academic excellence, scholars and others are encouraged to engage the literature and discourse of their respective fields at the same time that they present their findings during the public forum in a form that is accessible to academics in other disciplines and is also intellectually stimulating for an intelligent general audience.

Submission Instructions:
Submit a 150-word abstract in English, along with a 500-word summary of your paper that indicates the thesis or central question, which you plan to explore, as well as an idea of the theoretical framework within which your findings will be considered.

Deadline:
Abstract and summary are due June 1, 2012. If your work is accepted for the Festival, a copy of the full paper must be submitted by November, 2012.